NSA spying is just the beginning, a far greater threat lies ahead

The US National Security Agency (NSA) is building the foundation for a global police state. This is not an exaggeration.

The lynch pin of the NSA system is the continuous gathering of
all types of digital data on political leaders, economic
institutions, and hundreds of millions of people around the
world. Despite the recent revelations, the political leaders of
the US government have never stated that such activities will
stop.

However, the current massive cyber surveillance of the worlds'
people and institutions is only the beginning of the threat from
the NSA and its allied US government agencies. Unrestricted
information technology (IT) power in the hands of the US
government is a future threat which dwarfs anything the NSA has
done to date.

Moore's law, a prediction originally formulated by Intel
co-founder Gordon Moore, states that microchips double in power
and halve in price per unit power every two years. In the 47
years since this prediction appeared, it has always been
validated, and experts expect this trajectory to continue for the
foreseeable future.

By simple arithmetic of the 2x2x2x2x2 variety, we can see that
ten years from now, chip power will be 32 times greater than
today. The capabilities of a wide range of digital devices will
also improve exponentially, as processing speed, memory capacity,
sensors, and miniaturization are all linked to Moore's law.

This upward leap will have massive negative consequences if the
US government is permitted to retain its current 'blank check' on
the use - and manipulation - of IT.

To begin with, the power to gather - and to automate - the
scanning and manipulation of...the worlds data will grow
exponentially. The NSA has already anticipated this development
by constructing a gigantic new center in the US state of Utah.
Finished at the end of 2013, it will house unimaginable amounts
of data – amounts far greater than any it has so far gathered, at
an estimated cost for construction plus hardware and software of
3.5 to 4 billion US dollars.

Second, the power of the NSA - and of other US government
entities - to instantlycontrol or kill anyone or any institution
anywhere in the world will also grow exponentially. IT-controlled
pilot-less drone airplanes, currently used by the US government
to murder people thousands of miles away in a number of
countries, are but a small harbinger of what will be possible.

One important development is what IT people call 'the
internet of things,’ something which is already under
construction. The idea is to incorporate into the world network a
large proportion of the inanimate objects which surround us.
Grocery store products, appliances, vehicles, buildings,
highways, factory systems, and machines, and more are all being
added - or will be added - in various ways to the network. Many
of these things, of course, already contain computer chips, and
some are already networked.

Building backdoors and hacking - methods beloved by the NSA -
into the chips, software, and network connections of this
'world of things' would turn everyday objects into
potential drones.

Imagine, for example, a foreign government official is disliked
by the US government - or just by the NSA. Or perhaps someone in
the US posts something on the internet that the government really
dislikes. Suddenly, that person is attacked by their toaster. Or
they mysteriously lose control of their car. Or the airplane
they're flying in crashes. Or the friendly house-cleaning robot
they recently bought suddenly turns mean.

On a larger scale, the same kinds of methods can be used to
disrupt or put out of action a foreign country's military
systems, government systems, or economic enterprises.

What's more, there is every possibility that the NSA or similar
agencies will attempt to infiltrate their spying, and potential
for disruption, into the emerging realm of augmented reality
technologies. Augmented reality involves looking at a real-world
environment through an IT-enhanced pair of glasses - glasses
which simultaneously display the real world and some digital
content such as images, pictures, text, video, or whatever.
Moreover, these glasses are connected wirelessly to the internet,
so the augmented realities can be shared.

To cite a very simple example, you might be looking at a real
world table, but seeing flowers on the table that aren't there.
And you might be seeing and talking to people at the table who
are actually in another place.

This isn't science fiction; it's on the way in various forms to
widespread commercial availability in the next year or so from
multiple IT companies - including Google, and several dozens
more. Some experts believe that functions now done on computers,
mobile phones, and other IT systems currently in use will
ultimately ‘collapse’ into, or be absorbed into, this new
technology.

As wonderful as it may prove to be, augmented reality technology
is also not without dangers. Bear in mind the recent revelation
that the NSA has already infiltrated false 'avatars' and
engaged in other covert activity in World of Warcraft and Second
Life, two of the most popular multi-player computer game systems,
in which users immerse into a 'virtual world.’ Such games are are
used by millions of people around the world.

Information technology - powered by Moore's law - is, in fact,
moving progressively closer to the human brain. From the
post-WWII mainframe computers, to desktop computers, to notebooks
and tablets, to smartphones, to augmented reality glasses.

What's next? The logical step beyond the glasses is apt to be
something like augmented reality operating through contact
lenses, followed after that by augmented reality operating
through actual visual and auditory implants behind the eyes and
ears, thereby creating real world ‘augmented humans.’
Such technology might greatly increase the capabilities and even
intelligence of users. But it also has a dystopian potential for
unprecedented state spying and interference.

Under ever-worsening life conditions for the American people,
there is a real danger that IT-enabled 'security’ -
whether called the ‘NSA' or something else - will
increasingly be used for more illegal and unconstitutional
surveillance and control of the population. Only a determined
effort now to rein in the NSA - and the massive use of IT for
so-called 'security' purposes - can help prevent this
potential tragedy.

Eric Sommer for RT

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.